RAFAEL BENITEZ arrived in Japan with his Chelsea team yesterday and declared Fernando Torres is happy.

The striker had been looking like the grumpiest player on the planet after going six games without a goal as Chelsea struggled.

But a pair of double strikes in four days, against Nordsjaelland in the Champions League and Sunderland in the Premier League, has seen Torres smiling again.

His grin could grow even wider if he keeps up his hot streak in the Club World Cup, with Chelsea entering at the semi-final stage and facing Monterrey in Yokohama on Thursday.

“People are getting used to seeing Fernando scoring,” said Benitez, who seems to be bringing out the best in his fellow Spaniard after he thrived under him at Liverpool.

“He’s happy, yes. When a striker is scoring, he is happy, happy. I’ve noticed the difference in him too.

People are getting used to seeing Fernando scoring

Chelsea interim manager Rafa Benitez

“Everybody has been talking for months about, ‘Fernando has to score more goals’, so to score four in a week he must be pleased. That’s everyone, but especially the striker.”

Benitez was quick to praise Torres’s team-mates in helping him over his drought. “Fernando has been in good positions only because the team has created more chances,” he said. “It is the team that is doing well. I can communicate with him a different way sometimes but the main thing, for me, is his team-mates.

“I could see that Chelsea were a great team with great players but still the balance of the team was something we could improve.

“We’re trying to get the defenders and Petr Cech together. At the same time with the midfielders and the strikers we’re trying to make the tempo of the game higher when we’re in possession.

“We want to put all of them together, but at the same time, you have to improve the defence.

“The team was conceding goals for 10 games. So in the first two games, two clean sheets was for us a positive message.”